Defenders of the Realm The Dragon Expansion FAQ V1.2 Monarch City: Can Monarch City be tainted, and if it becomes tainted do the heroes lose? The official answer is yes; adding a 4th Minion (or 3 Demons, or 3 of any minion plus an On Fire Token) will taint Monarch City causing them to lose the game. Design Note: It is my opinion that adding the automatic loss condition (especially against the Dragon Generals) may be too harsh for some groups and I recommend that players desiring an easier game agree on a House Rule that states if Monarch City becomes tainted for any reason, but a 5th minion is not present - the game does not end. Place the Tainted Crystal (that can only be removed by a Hero’s skill (Cleric or Druid) or the use of a Purple Special card for a Heal the Land Action. Thematic perspective: The Tainting of Monarch City in this case is limited to the land outside of the walls of the city, walls that contain magical gems protecting the inhabitants from the toxic destruction of the Dark Lord’s troops. The Royal Council, within the safety of the walls, fights on even though the city is under siege by the Dark Lord's minions and the countryside has been laid to waste. If playing where Monarch City can become tainted and the game not end, can any color card be used by Heroes to heal the land or extinguish the flames? Monarch City and the Inns are purple locations, so the only method of extinguishing flames or healing these locations in the rare event they become tainted would be by the player discarding a Purple (Special) Card to perform the action of using a hero skill. To remove a fire token from Inns and Monarch City, do you just discard a Purple (Special) card and automatically succeed in putting out the flame or do you still have to roll the dice. You must still roll a 4+ to extinguish any flame, however keep in mind a Special card not used for the special ability or the dice to fight a General is not removed from the game, but placed in the Hero card discards to be redrawn after shuffled. Heroes: How do hero wounds work exactly, if they occur in the middle of the turn do you take a wound from your unused actions? Or can you take them from a used action? Example: A Dwarf has 5 hit points/actions and initiates combat with a Dragon General in his area (1 action used). He fails to slay it and gets wounded for 4 damage - does he have 1 actions remaining or no actions remaining? He would have no Actions, as damage is always removed from remaining actions for the turn first. In most cases the Hero will take no wounds until after having spent all of their actions of the turn (Zealots and fighting Generals are the exception) so if a Hero has 5 actions and spends 1 to move to a location with 3 minions, then spends 1 action to attack- missing on all dice, the hero has 3 actions left to attack again or leave the area. Only if ending their turn with minions would they suffer damage. Keep in mind, healed actions are not available on the turn you heal them - only the next turn. Cleric: Is the Cleric's Power altered in anyway to face any of the new races? Yes, she has + 1 against Zealots. Additionally, her power to heal the land has not changed. Can the Cleric add +1 to the die roll when attacking fire Elementals? No - they are not demonic or evil, so the magic in her mace will not assist the attack like it does with Demons, Undead, and Zealots (who are also evil). Dwarf: Does the Dwarf get his Dragon Slayer ability (re-roll) against the Dragon Masters (new blue minions for Sapphire the High Dragon General)? No - they are Wizards, not Dragons and this makes them very difficult to beat when all Dragons are in play. Does the Armor of the Dwarf (and Paladin) still protect them against the new minions? Yes – their armor still blocks 1 wound from Minions. This means that they can face the Zealots and not take any wounds between each round of combat, as well as reduce 1 wound from minions on their location at the end of their turn. Eagle Rider: If in sky, is the Eagle Rider affected by fire? Also, is the Eagle Rider subject to the berserk power of the zealots? The Eagle Rider is affected by fire (Smoke actually) but not Zealots. When attacking from the sky, he remains free from the Zealot berserk attack each round and at the end of combat, but he cannot escape the damage from smoke inhalation. Ranger: Does the zealots’ berserk power work if the Ranger attacks from an adjacent location (Archery)? No - The Berserk ability is a melee attack, therefore it cannot be made at an attacking force not located on the same space, so the Ranger’s archery attack at a distance would keep him safe from the Berserk attack of the Zealots. Sorceress: Can the Sorceress use her Shape Shifter ability to cancel the Zealot's (the new black minions) Berserk ability? No - They strike her each round because she is attacking them, therefore they strike back. At the end of her turn she can still avoid their damage as she has essentially left combat and her appearance is the same as all other Zealots, but while in battle she is vulnerable to their Berserk ability. She would however get her attack bonus while in their shape - so she needs to use it well or suffer damage. Does the Sorceress power work against Zealots? Yes and no. The Sorceress gains the Bonus of her attack and at the end of her turn would not be attacked by Zealots, but in the heat of battle if she fails to slay all Zealots at a location, they attack with their Berserk ability. Wizard: Can the Wizard use his Wisdom ability to ignore a drawn Global Effects card and draw another card? Yes - The Wizard's Wisdom skill enables him to treat Global Effects like any other Darkness Spreads card (remember – he can use this skill on his turn only) therefore, regardless of the Global Effect (Bad or Good) he can discard it and draw a replacement Darkness Spreads Card. The new card drawn must be played, even if another Global Effect as the initial Global Effect never occurred. New Quests: If the Paladin or the Dwarf (both of which already have Armor) complete the Quest for the Dragon Scale Armor, does the Quest provide an additional benefit with Dragons and Dragonkin? Yes – If the Quest is completed by the Dwarf or Paladin, they gain the added value against Dragons and Dragonkin, essentially upgrading their armor. It would not increase their Armor ability against any other minion. Example: If attacked by 2 Orcs at the end of a turn, the Hero would not be able to block one point of damage with their innate armor skill and another point of damage with the newly gained Dragon Scale Armor? However, if ending their turn with 2 Dragonkin, they would be able to block both attacks with the new armor as it provides the bonus against Dragons and Dragonkin. The Dragon scale armour is just more effective against Dragons and Dragonkin so it will prevent one wound from any minion or General (not including wounds from Fear) and will prevent a second wound if the enemies present are Dragons or Dragonkin. New Special Hero Cards: When using a mix of Generals and/or a mix of Special Cards, do these cards only provide dice against the generals pictured in the icons or, as the text states against "Any General?" The term “Any General” means any General - not just the General pictured on the Card. All Special Cards that state Any General may be used against any of the Generals in the game even if the picture of that specific General is not on the card. This will be more important as we add new Generals in the future. New Darkness Spreads Cards: When drawing the new Darkness Spreads card Dark Lord Assassins instructing the player to turn over a Hero card and all Heroes at that color location are attacked, what happens if a Purple (Special) Card is drawn? All Heroes in Monarch City or one of the Inns would be attacked – the assassins of the Dark Lord can reach you anywhere. Is the Wizard able to use his Wisdom Skill while the Mana Drain Global Effect is active? Yes – this Skill is based on his knowledge and wisdom, not his magic. Deck Building – Mixing and Matching of generals in Darkness Spreads Deck: When using some Dragon Generals but not all, how should the Darkness Spreads deck be built with respect to the Orc Patrols and Orc War Party cards, and their replacements from the Dragon expansion? When Gorgutt is in the game, use the Orc War Party and Orc Patrols cards and when Hemlock is in the game use the Assault on Monarch City and Dark Magic cards. Since 2 cards show Sapphire as the moving General and the movement is into Monarch City so they are easily traded out, however 2 of these cards show Varkolak moving into Monarch City (one is a move anywhere) so they need to be added if Varkolak is in the game even if Gorgutt and the Orks are not.